Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Robert Getchell
Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson, Harvey Keitel
Synopsis: A recently-widowed woman is on the road with her precocious young son, determined to make a new life for herself as a singer.
Martin Scorsese has a more varied filmography than people give him credit for. The director has done it all in his time and early in his career he took some chances even as he was lauded for the films that would come to define how people think of him and his work. Sandwiched between Mean Streets (1973) and Taxi Driver (1976), Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is the closest Scorsese gets to straight comedy. Yet, Scorsese being Scorsese, this story has an edge to it and veers more toward the dark comedy end of things.
It’s very probable that writer Robert Getchell’s brilliant script was meant to be done entirely as broad comedy. In fact, Getchell created the long-running network sitcom “Alice” based on his characters here. The laughs are there and waiting for a reaction. Yet, instead of the guffaws a one liner or a sassy kid could elicit, Scorsese’s direction puts the comedy into the cringeworthy banality of reality. Still funny, but with bite and a little more fear.
There’s a scene that starts in a comedic tone. A woman, Rita (Lane Bradbury), comes to Alice’s (Ellen Burstyn) door. She explains the man that Alice has been seeing, Ben (Harvey Keitel), is her husband. Of course, then Ben shows up. As written it is kind of silly, Ben wanting to have his cake and eat it too, but Scorsese and cinematographer Kent L. Wakefield take the scene to a steadicam, which heightens the terror and snaps us out of the sort of silliness of the situation. Ben, to this point a goofy, lovestruck country boy suddenly turns meaner than mean, breaking the glass on the door to Alice’s room to gain entry, then threatening Alice and Rita with his switchblade. It’s a terrifying scene and it could feel like a tonal distraction, but somehow this tearing of the fabric of the comedic reality reminds us that as a free woman, Alice is now in the world without the safety net of her relationship.
That edginess is refreshing and makes the story feel more alive. As a broad comedy, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore would feel fake. Alice breaking down in front of her potential employer would have been winked at instead of a cunning and well acted ploy by Alice. Alice and her son Tommy’s (Alfred Lutter) relationship would ring false, but her anger and exasperation at his antics mixed with her deep affection for how his strange little mind works, feels much more fixed and lived in. The loving fight between Alice and David (Kris Kristofferson) when tinged with the bite of truth makes their falling into each other’s arms more worthwhile.
None of these swings would work without the epic, world conquering performance of Ellen Burstyn. As Alice, Ellen Burstyn has hit on a performance that helps you to not necessarily understand her grief, but to understand her desperation brought on by such a sharp change of circumstances. She has some of the most incredible timing in her comebacks and the most affecting crying jags, even if the particular scene the crying surrounds isn’t particularly sad, she makes you feel all of what Alice feels. It’s the kind of lived-in role that you would have suspected she had done seven performances a week on stage or if the character was based entirely on her own experience. She’s utterly brilliant and just so funny.
Martin Scorsese is not a master filmmaker because he has stuck to one style or genre for his entire career. He’s a master filmmaker because he can take material, mold it to his sensibilities, and still put out a product that is wholly original from most of what he’s done before. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is a fabulous take on what it’s like to grab a second chance and not let go until it is your reality. It has a whip smart script, terrific filmmaking, and great performances. The main cast is wonderful, but keep an eye out for the small, but mighty role of Audrey, played by young tom boy Jodie Foster on the cusp of stardom. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is part of a slew of great dark comedies by Martin Scorsese and deserves to be talked about in the same breath as After Hours and The King of Comedy.
